Variational method-based distributed optimal guidance laws for multi-attackers’ simultaneous attack

To solve the problem of cooperative encirclement and simultaneous attack of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, variational method and Hamiltonian optimization are utilized to design an optimal attack trajectory of multiple attackers pursuing a single target that has fixed initial relative state, fixed final relative state and fixed duration of the attack under condition that the acceleration of the target being estimable. When terminal relative state and attack duration are unknown, online calculation algorithm is used to compute a chain of key intermediate points to create the guidance law and ensure successful deliverance of multiple attackers’ simultaneous attack of the target. The only requirement for the multi-attacker communication network is that it contains a directed spanning tree. The guidance laws can function properly as long as one or more attacker can observe the target. The novel guidance laws practicability are verified by simulation results.